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������Ƶ College of Arts and Sciences Professor Mitchell Day has been awarded a significant grant of $453,000 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to explore the neurobiological mechanisms behind hearing loss and its impact on sound localization. This innovative research aims to shed light on how hearing impairment affects auditory perception, particularly in complex environments.

The project focuses on understanding the neural mechanisms that contribute to difficulties in sound localization—an essential skill for navigating everyday life. It will also allow for the researchers to locate where exactly in the brain this problem with auditory information is arising.

“When individuals lose their hearing, they often rely on hearing aids, which amplify sounds but do not address changes in the inner ear and the brain’s auditory processing areas,” Day said. “A lot of times, people with hearing aids can hear everything, let’s say in a crowded restaurant, however, the problem comes from the difficulty in segregating sounds based on where they are coming from. Our research seeks to investigate these changes and their implications for sound perception.”

Day goes on to explain that people with normal hearing can pinpoint the specific locations of where a sound is coming from, whereas people with hearing impairments have a hard time pinpointing the exact location of specific sounds.

Hearing loss is a pressing issue, particularly among older adults. According to the , more than 700 million people (1 in every 10) will experience disabling hearing loss by 2050. To help mitigate the impacts of hearing loss, this NIH grant will fund a three-year study that utilizes an animal model to examine how hearing impairment alters auditory processing in the brain.